College Football Bowls Conspire To Protect BCS SystemBoise State vs. TCU in the Fiesta Bowl? With the sleight of hand used by a magician, the College Bowls make themselves appear to be magmanimous by granting a sscond BCS bid to a non-conference school while diverting our attention from their bigger goal; protecting their wallets by diffusing the uproar for a playoff system to determine a champion in the NCAA Bowl Championship division. Nice try, guys.

With five unbeaten teams headed into the Bowl Season, anti-BCS sentiment was running at an all time high and figured to ramp up to an intolerable level if as many as four were left standing after their Bowl Games. A likely scenario, as contracts between the Bowls and certain conferences should have had Cincinnati facing Georgia Tech in the Orange, TCU against Florida in the Sugar, Boise matched up with Iowa in the Fiesta with Texas and Alabama deciding the Championship. While the loser of the BCS title game would have dropped from the ranks of the undefeated, it wouldn’t have surprised anyone if all of the other perfect teams finished that way. How then, would the powers-that-be quell the demand for a playoff?

Here’s how. Using loopholes to get around the conference agreements, the Sugar Bowl drafted Cincinnati as its BCS at-large team and the Fiesta paired Boise State with TCU; robbing both schools and college football fans of the opportunity to see how these “outsiders” would fare against the big boys. What they did create, though, was a scenario where only one team beside the champ is unbeaten. TCU is much better suited to handle Florida than the boys from Cincy who’d have had a much easier time with Georgia Tech in the Orange. Considering that the Bearcats will head into the Sugar Bowl without their head coach, beating Florida will be difficult. As for the Fiesta, the loser is out of the conversation.

Every year we hear the same nonsense from NCAA officials about the logistical difficulty of staging an eight or sixteen team playoff. Travel and academics are the two obstacles most often cited. They’d have merit, too, if only the NCAA’s lower divisions didn’t already participate in a 32 team format. What’s the old saying? When they say it’s not about the money, it’s always about the money.

There’s something to be said for karma. Just days after banishing husband and uncle, Gil Lock, from the very handicapping column founded to feature his expertise, Jill and Pad Lock suffered through their worst weekend of the season. Jill, who had been rolling along at a two to one clip, turned in an oh for three stinker; her first of the year. Nephew Pad didn’t fare much better; registering just a single win. Realizing they had ticked off the football gods by mistreating Gil just before the start of the all important Bowl Season, they decided to correct the situation and invite Gil back to the team.

“We never felt right about firing Gil”, said his wife, Jill. “I mean, he’s a sports handicapper. It’s what he does. What else is he going to do, work in a supermarket? He had a bad stretch and we overreacted.” Pad echoed the sentiment, saying, “Uncle Gil has always been good to me. I hated to let him go but Aunt Jill wanted to protect her record. Not much to protect now, I guess.”

Gil, while overjoyed at the news, was still feeling a little low after some personal misadventures took their toll. “I’ve been pulled over a number of times by Jersey State Troopers because I look like the guy who punched Snookie on Jersey Shore. They usually notice I’m not the guy after I form a few complete sentences but, the last time, I got in over my head.” “I have a buddy who’s a guido”, said Gil, “and this cop pulls me over with him in the car.” “He takes one look at Phil’s hair gel and general, torpedo demeanor and assumes he’s ‘The Situation'”, Gil continued. “I tried to explain that Phil’s nickname is, actually, ‘The Altercation’ and that the officer was mistaken; but he wasn’t buying.” “Finally, the cop, knowing that the real ‘Situation’ has six-pack abs, asked Phil to roll up his sleeveless tee.” “As soon as he saw that Phil’s six-pack was actually a half keg, he let us go.” Asked if he harbored any ill will toward his wife and nephew, Gil was gracious. “Nah. I’m just happy to be back.” And, with that, here’s how the Locks see the Bowl Season:

Locks of the Week(s)

Before we get to their individual selections, we present the Locks’ consensus picks along with this insight from Gil: “The Big Ten is as overrated a conference as I’ve ever seen, yet, they get two BCS bids and two New Year’s games. Now try and tell me the system doesn’t need to be changed.” “We at Ryno Rife Sports Handicappers have no confidence in any Big Ten teams or coaches, especially Penn State and Paterno, and have decided to pick against every one of them.”

By Eddie Mayrose

Locks Wrap Up Season And Look To Go Bowling

This is it for the Lock family. The final week of prognostications before their NCAA Football Bowl selections in a few weeks. It’s been a successful season for the most part, especially since the firing of Gil Lock of Ryno Rife Sports Handicapping. With wife Jill and nephew Pad picking up the slack, the Locks have forged an impressive record while saving the dignity of the family name. Many were disappointed that Gil was not included in last week’s column; as they’d come to rely on him as a reverse indicator. Jill and Pad have taken their protests under advisement and may invite Gil back for the Bowl Season. With that decision still up in the air, here are the Locks of the Week for the final Saturday of the season.

Locks of the Week

Jill Locks (21-10)

Conference USA Football Championship

Houston -1 over East Carolina-

The Cougars, needing two straight wins for a Championhsip berth, responded by scoring 128 points while drubbing both Memphis and Rice. They’ll face defending champ East Carolina on the Pirates’ home turf; the main reason the line is so low. However, while the two didn’t meet in ’09, Houston did ring up over 600 yards of offense last year as the Cougars ran away with a 41-24 win at East Carolina. Houston QB Case Keenum leads the nation in total offense and will be too much for the Pirates to handle.

ACC Football Championship

Georgia Tech -1 over Clemson

– Georgia Tech escaped with a 30-27 win when the two met back in September and Clemson will be looking for revenge. However, that game wasn’t as close as the score would indicate as the Yellow Jackets ran for over 300 yards in dominating the line of scrimmage. Clemson may have the league’s best player in C.J. Spiller but he managed just 18 rushing yards last week in a loss to South Carolina. Don’t think Tech hasn’t watched that film a few times.

Big 12 Football Championship

Texas – 14 1/2 over Nebraska

– This doesn’t shape up to be much of a game. Texas has been rolling along unchallenged for most of the season and then got its wake up call last week courtesy of Texas A&M. There’s no way they won’t be ready Saturday which is very bad news for Nebraska.

Pad Locks (8-5)

San Jose State vs. Lousiana Tech over 46 1/2-

San Jose State is one of the nation’s most generous teams while Louisiana Tech reminds no one of the Steel Curtain. La. Tech may go over by themselves.

Boise State vs. New Mexico over 58 1/2-

This week’s “Arifemetic” lesson. Boise is favored by 47 points so, the line is telling you you’ll probably need just a TD from New Mex. Plus, I love the fact that Boise needs to run it up to lock up a BCS bid.

California -6 over Washington-

It’s been an up and down year for both teams but California has finally started playing consistently well and has a lot more talent than the Huskies even with Jahvid Best out of the lineup.